Cement News tagged under: Costa Rica

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Cemex Latin American Holdings depressed by Colombia

12 February 2018, Published under Cement News

Cemex Latin American Holdings saw turnover decline by 5.5 per cent to US$1315.3m and EBITDA fell by 26.7 per cent to US$310.8m, with the margin coming down from 32.2 to 25 per cent. The trading profit deteriorated by 51.5 per cent to US$151.5m and after a further 0.6 per cent increase in financial expenses to US$63.3m and other items, the pretax profit dropped by 66.2 per cent to US$83.7m. After tax and minorities, the net attributable profit was 67 per cent lower at US$46.1m. The net debt w...

Plycem vows to increase competitiveness in Costa Rican market

02 October 2017, Published under Cement News

Plycem, a new company owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, will fight for a place in Costa Rica's cement market from the first quarter of 2018. The Mexco-based company will operate in Salinas Esparza, Puntarenas, with an investment of US$17m in an area of 50,000M². The project will create at least 200 jobs. Óscar Fonseca, Plycem Central America CEO, explained that the main objective of the company is to produce cement for self-consumption and, secondly, for marketing. The directors sa...

Carlos Slim enters Costa Rican cement market

14 September 2017, Published under Cement News

Cementos Fortaleza, owned by Carlos Slim, will commence operations in a few weeks in alliance with Plycem, which is also part of the Elementia group owned by Carlos Slim and Mexican entrepreneur Antonio del Valle Ruiz. The joint venture is scheduled to inaugurate a cement plant in Barranca, Puntarenas, at the end of September, according to the Federal College of Engineers and Architects (CFIA). The new player will compete with the already-established cement producers, Cemex and Lafarg...

Cement imports surge in Costa Rica

16 August 2017, Published under Cement News

The import of cement into Costa Rica has skyrocketed in the past two years, according to El Financiero Costa Rica. In 2014 the Latin American country imported 10,418t of cement but in 2016 this figure had increased more than tenfold to 107,294t. The steep rise has been particularly noted since 2015, when the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC) changed the regulations regarding hydraulic cements, changing storage conditions and the flexibility of the marketing period. ...

Central American cement trade falls 14% in 9M16

25 April 2017, Published under Cement News

The total value of traded hydraulic cements in Central American countries fell 14 per cent from US$56m to US$48m in the first nine months of 2016, according to CentralAmericaData. Volumes dropped from 0.494Mt in 2015 to 0.426Mt in 2016. In the 9M16 the main exporter of hydraulic cements in Central America was Costa Rica with US$28m, followed by El Salvador (US$12m), Honduras (US$5m), Nicaragua (US$2m) and Guatemala (US$1m). In this period, Nicaragua was the main buyer of interregional...

Costa Rica: Cemex supplying road link upgrade project

06 January 2017, Published under Cement News

Cemex Latam Holdings, subsidiary of Cemex, has supplied cement to a 50km road upgrade project of the Inter-American Highway in Costa Rica. The highway was widened to four lanes, with two in either direction. Some 200,000t of high-strength cement was supplied by Cemex to produce the concrete. The road surface now features a 250mm-thick layer of concrete, which was considered more suitable for the conditions than asphalt. The new dual carriageway connects the towns of Canas and Liberia and ...

Costa Rica: residents seek relief from dust

08 December 2016, Published under Cement News

Residents of Lourdes de Agua Caliente, Cartago, Costa Rica, have spoken out about dust emissions from a nearby Holcim Costa Rica plant. The Ministry of Health visited the plant in question this week, ordering it to control its dust emissions. Reports of dust clouds date back three years and have reportedly been a regular occurrence ever since. A company official from Holcim Costa Rica said the “dust is from primary materials, limestone rock, which doesn’t cause any environmental or health...

A fragile but positive outlook

05 December 2016, Published under Cement News

While South America’s cement markets may have been considerably affected by the economic downturn, the Central American countries of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama are hopeful of a better future. Domestic cement producers are looking for an upturn in cement demand, particularly following recent increases in their production capacities. By Rob Roy, ROI Economic Consulting, USA. In Honduras Argos operates the 1.3Mta Piedras Azules integrated...

Cemex Latin American Holdings sees improved cement volumes in Colombia

28 July 2016, Published under Cement News

Cemex Latin American Holdings' first-half turnover fell by 10.1 per cent to US$672.1m, while EBITDA came off by 4.4 per cent to US$226.1m. At the trading level there was a 4.3 per cent reduction to US$183.5m. After a net interest charge 27.6 per cent lower at US$29.4m, the pretax profit emerged 16.5 per cent higher at US$165.4m. The net attributable profit rose by 22 per cent to US$100.6m. Net debt at the end of June was 8.6 per cent lower than a year earlier at US$984m, giving a gearing lev...

Costa Rica approves cement quality standards

18 November 2015, Published under Cement News

The Technical Standards Institute of Costa Rica (Inteco) has approved the INTE 06-11-15-15:2015 Hydraulic Cement – Requirements and Specifications standard to help guarantee cement quality in the Central American country. The standards identify six classes of cement, each with subclasses, depending on their composition. Each specification lays out the compressive strength and other requirements which be must be met. While the implementation of the standards is voluntary, Inteco expects a wi...